There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Kevin's voice turned slightly unnatural. “Of course, I got it directly from the original factory. All right, I’ve got to go. My boss is calling. I’m hanging up.”

I stared at the bottle of water that cost only a couple of dollars and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of irony. To earn my year-end bonus and prepare proper New Year's gifts for both sides of the family, I had not slept before 2:00 am for two straight months.

Just last week, I was even rushed to the hospital for acute gastric bleeding. Yet Kevin bought fake goods for my parents and lied to me about working overtime.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I opened Kevin’s Instagram account. There was nothing but a blank feed. If it were before, I would have thought he was just too busy to post. Now, I suspected he was hiding things from me on purpose.

On impulse, I remembered the alternate account I had used back in college to see Kevin's posts. I logged into it and opened his profile. His latest post was from half an hour ago. It was a nine-photo grid.

The background was his house back in his hometown, where the table was filled with lavish dishes. The most eye-catching were two unopened cases of premium whisky and two cartons of high-end cigarettes. Even from the photos, I could tell they were genuine.

What made it even more suffocating was the center photo.

Kevin was wearing a red fur coat, smiling as he held a woman close. That woman, dressed in a luxury coat, was clinking glasses with my mother-in-law. My in-laws were grinning from ear to ear.

The caption read: [Wonderful daughter-in-law came to visit. We’re so happy. Thanks for the hard work, my dear wife. Love you!]

I recognized that face immediately.

She was Alina—Kevin’s middle school classmate.

I could no longer suppress my rage. I grabbed the cases of fake liquor and stormed out of the house.

“Zeena, where are you going this late?” Mom had woken up for the bathroom. She called after me, still in her padded coat.

“Work emergency! I have to go back!” I dared not turn around, afraid that she would see my bloodshot eyes.

It was a six-hour drive from my hometown to my in-laws’ county. I did not know how many red lights I ran through along the way.

The stabbing pain in my stomach made it hard to even hold the steering wheel. However, I could not stop.

By the early morning of New Year’s, I finally arrived.

Just as I parked the car, two figures walked out. Kevin was holding Alina’s hand. They were wearing matching red outfits, laughing as they talked.

Alina was holding the two bottles of whisky they had bought with my money, as though she was preparing to give them as gifts.

Kevin gently adjusted her scarf. His eyes were full of admiration and affection.

I sat in the car, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my nails almost dug into the leather. I wanted to rush over and tear those two apart, to ask Kevin if his heart had turned to stone!

Still, I held back. If I rushed out now, all I would get would be a fight and a trip to the police station. What I needed was to make them pay a price a hundred times worse than mine!

As I watched them walk off laughing to grab breakfast, I took a deep breath, put on my mask and cap, and quietly got out of the car.

Kevin’s place was an old walk-up building with almost no sound insulation. I slipped into the building and hid in the corner between the first and second floors. The place was piled with clutter, just enough to hide me while still letting me clearly hear what was going on upstairs.

I could hear Mrs. Wall’s voice clearly. It was full of envy. “Your daughter-in-law is really something. I saw all those things she brought up last night—cigarettes, liquor… That must’ve cost a fortune, right?”

I held my breath and listened closely.

“Of course!” My mother-in-law’s voice immediately rose an octave, overflowing with pride she could not hide.

“That’s premium whisky! It costs two to three thousand dollars a bottle! Alina bought two whole cases and said she wouldn’t shortchange us old folks. And those cigarettes are Marlboro Premium Black!”

I let out a cold laugh when I heard that.

Those things had been bought with my money! They were bought from my blood, sweat, and sleepless nights!

Mrs. Walls clicked her tongue in admiration. “Such generosity! She’s not like mine, always so stingy. By the way, what happened to your son's previous wife?”

My heart instantly jumped to my throat.

My mother-in-law gave a dismissive snort, like she was talking about something filthy. “Zeena? That useless thing? Already divorced! She’s stingy and good for nothing!”

It felt like I had been struck by lightning. Kevin had actually told others that we were divorced? No wonder he never allowed me to come during the holidays. He always said I should stay with my parents instead.

Just then, footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Kevin and Alina were back. I quickly shrank deeper into the pile of clutter.

Their conversation drifted into my ears.

“Breakfast cost over 50 dollars. That’s so expensive.” Alina’s voice was filled with a teasing, coquettish tone.

“What’s there to worry about? Anyway, that fool is the one paying.” Kevin’s voice was full of contempt and satisfaction.

Alina then asked, “By the way, how much did your ex-wife give this year?”

“Same as always, 10,000 dollars.” Kevin let out a soft chuckle. His tone was dripping with mockery.

Alina hugged him and gave him a quick kiss with a soft smack, then said, “My hubby is amazing. She’s being fooled completely. But you still need to be careful. Don’t let her find out.”

“Find out what?!” Kevin’s voice turned sharp and sarcastic. “She's only focused on work, work, work. She doesn’t even care about the family. Besides, even if she figures it out, so what? The money’s already mine. What’s she gonna do about it?

“Once I drain her completely, I’ll dump her and make her leave with nothing!”

Their laughter faded as they walked away, ending with a door slam.

The stairwell fell back into dead silence. I crouched in the dark corner, grinding my teeth so hard they hurt. I thought of how I had toasted clients across all those nights just to secure that 10,000 dollars, only to end up in an ambulance with a bleeding stomach. I thought of my parents’ guilty, humble expressions in front of those fake bottles of liquor.

A wave of even more violent hatred surged through me.

As I left that cursed neighborhood that was my in-laws’ place, I checked into a cheap, low-profile express hotel. I did not rush to make a scene, and I did not rush to find a lawyer either.

I worked in construction management. If I wanted a building to collapse completely, I needed to first identify the load-bearing walls, then take them out with precision. For Kevin and Alina, what they cared about most was their fake respectable image.

I logged into all my online banking accounts and pulled three years of transaction records. Each line of transfers felt like a thousand cuts to my heart.

Kevin transferred the 10,000 dollars to another account like clockwork every year. The recipient was Alina’s younger brother, who ran a nail salon.

Then, I checked my savings account. I rarely paid attention to it, so I had always assumed it was steadily growing.

However, to my shock, there was a withdrawal of 20,000 dollars six months ago! The reference note listed that it was for a vehicle's down payment. I had never bought any cars!

I followed the trail through a friend at the vehicle registry office and found that Alina had recently registered a brand-new Audi A4L. The purchase date was just three days after my savings account withdrawal.

Oh, nice. That was a really slick move. He used my savings to buy a car for his mistress to show off. This was no longer simple cheating. It was outright theft and fraud!

I stood by the window, watching the city lights and listening to distant firecrackers. Tomorrow would be the second day of the new year.

Kevin had never allowed me to visit his family for the holidays. I would like to give them a proper gift this year.

The next day at noon, I showed up at their door carrying the cases of whiskey I had brought from home. Before I even knocked, I heard laughter inside.

“Oh wow, Alina’s alcohol tolerance is amazing! Come on, here’s another toast!”

“Kevin, you really hit the jackpot for finding such a caring and wealthy wife like Alina.”

I took a deep breath and knocked. The laughter inside stopped instantly.

“Who is it at this time?” My mother-in-law’s booming voice rang out. Then came the sound of slippers shuffling.

The door opened. She was wearing a bright red festive jacket. Her face still carried a flattering smile that had not fully faded. The moment she saw me, that smile froze.

“W-Why are you here?” Her voice cracked like a strangled chicken, sharp and panicked.

I ignored her attempt to block me and pushed the door open, walking straight in. “Mom, it’s the holidays. Your daughter-in-law came to pay a visit. Am I not welcome?”

My voice was calm but cold enough to cut through the room. The living room was packed with relatives. The noise instantly died. The air seemed to freeze. Every eye turned to me.

At the main seats were Kevin and Alina. They were practically glued together as they held wine glasses. The moment Kevin saw me carrying the fake liquor. His hand shook and the glass spilled all over Alina’s dress.

His face went ghost-white, peanut shells scattering everywhere as panic filled his eyes.

Alina reacted quickly, jumping up and pointing at me. “Who are you? How dare you just barge into someone’s house? Get out!”

I did not even look at her. I calmly pulled out a chair and sat down. Then, I slammed the cases of fake liquor onto the table.

“Who am I?” I looked around at the relatives, finally landing on my mother-in-law’s ashen face. “Mom, it looks like your memory’s not too good. It’s only been a few days and you don’t even recognize your own official daughter-in-law?”

Her face flushed red, then pale, then red again. She slammed the table. “Zeena! You’ve got some nerve showing up here! Since you’re already divorced, why are you still clinging to us? It’s the holidays. Don’t bring us bad luck! Take your things and get out!”

Divorced? I put on a playful, mocking smile.

Kevin had really gone all out to maintain his lie, even fabricating something this ridiculous.

The relatives around started whispering, pointing at me.

“So, that’s Kevin’s ex-wife? She looks decent. Why is she so shameless?”

“I heard she delivers food. She’s probably broke and trying to freeload a meal.”

“Such bad luck. She just ruined the holidays.”

I actually found it a little amusing.

Without rushing, I unbuttoned my coat and took out a thick stack of documents, slamming them onto the table one by one.

“Divorced? When did I get divorced?” I stared straight at Kevin’s pale face, and uttered word after word, “Honey, when exactly did we go to the civil affairs bureau and get that divorce certificate? I don’t remember it at all. Since everyone’s here today, why don’t we talk this through properly? Especially you, Alina.”